UConn looks to complete ninth unbeaten regular season

The Connecticut Huskies pose for a picture holding their 2017 AAC Regular Season Champions after the game against the Temple Owls at XL Center. (David Butler II)

TAMPA, Fla. -- When the University of Connecticut women's basketball team watched Florida State's Imani Wright go up for a 3-point shot at the end of its Nov. 14 season opener, the Huskies weren't thinking about a perfect regular season. They were hoping to survive their first game.

What started up in Tallahassee will come to a close about a four-hour drive via I-10 East and I-75 South away Monday night. And what a long and interesting journey it's been for UConn these past few months.

"It's been crazy when you look back and you're already a game away from postseason play," UConn guard Katie Lou Samuelson said. "Now it seems like it went by so fast. It's up to us now to keep it going."

The top-ranked Huskies will look to complete their second straight and ninth unbeaten regular season overall Monday at 7 p.m. when they face South Florida in American Athletic Conference action at the Sun Dome.

UConn (28-0 overall, 15-0 AAC) has already wrapped up its fourth consecutive league regular season title and the No. 1 seed for the AAC tournament. The Huskies will open postseason play at Mohegan Sun Arena Saturday at 2 p.m. against the survivor of Friday's 8-9 game.

"We've done a lot of real good things this year so far," Samuelson said. "It's been a long run and it's been pretty tough. We have a tough game Monday and we'll come out and play as hard as we can."

That UConn would be where it is now and riding a 103-game winning streak seemed unlikely when it visited Florida State on Nov. 14. The Huskies needed a blocked shot from Napheesa Collier with eight seconds left to preserve a one-point edge and then watched helplessly as a 3-point shot for the win by Wright headed for the rim.

But the rim is all the ball hit and UConn has gone on to make history.

How the Huskies' season would have gone had the ball gone in the basket we'll never know.

"We would have probably been pushed even harder," Samuelson said. "People were saying a lot about what we lost to graduation and what we didn't have and if we hadn't won that night, they would have said, 'We were right.' That would have motivated us. But I don't know what would have happened if we had lost."

UConn has gone on to beat nine more ranked teams, including a USF club on Jan. 10 that dropped out of the Associated Press top 25 last week.

The Huskies kept their perfect record intact Saturday as Samuelson had 29 points and Collier 19 in a 91-48 Senior Day win over Memphis at Gampel Pavilion.

"I don't think anybody would have told us with six seconds left at Florida State, 'Don't worry about it, you guys are going to go undefeated,' " UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "I hope we can pull it off.

"If there is any kind of competitive spirit in South Florida's team, it's going to be a dog fight down there just like it always is. But if we could pull it off and go down there and win and these guys could finish the regular season undefeated, that would be a hell of a thing for this group. I don't think anybody would have predicted that."

In the teams' first meeting of the season, Saniya Chong led five Huskies in double figures with 20 points to go along with eight assists in the 102-37 rout of the Bulls at the XL Center in Hartford. UConn scored the first nine points and didn't look back, leading 65-19 at halftime. It was the worst loss in USF history, topping a 56-point defeat at the hands of Northwest Missouri 41 years ago.

But that game is history.

"They're not going to quit and hand us the game," said Samuelson, who needs eight points to become the 44th UConn player overall and sixth sophomore to reach 1,000. "They have the ability to give us a good game. We have to be ready to go because every team will give us their best."

USF (22-6, 11-4) defeated Tulsa 90-64 on Saturday as Kitija Laksa, the 2016 AAC Freshman of the Year, had 34 points on 13-for-14 shooting from the floor including 6-for-6 from behind the arc.

The Bulls have never beaten UConn (0-21) and have never beaten a top 10-ranked team.

"We're going down to South Florida to play a team that obviously didn't play that well when they came up here," Auriemma said. "I don't think we're 65 points better than them. We were 40-some points better than Tulane the first time, and look at the way that second game turned out. We're not going down there thinking the score at the beginning of the game will be 30-0."

UConn guard Kia Nurse will miss her fourth consecutive game Monday night at South Florida with a stress reaction in her right ankle. Auriemma said she has not been ruled out for the Huskies' first postseason game.

The Huskies' last loss in Florida came here in 2008 in the NCAA Final Four semifinals against Stanford at the St. Pete Times Forum (now known as Amalie Arena).

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Jefferson loves Vegas, hates sitting out

By Carl Adamec | May 20 | 6:04PM

"I went to the game (the opener of the second-round series with the San Jose Sharks) that they won 7-0 and it was incredible," Jefferson said on Sunday. "It was the first hockey game that I had ever been to and I got into it. I know nothing. I started learning a few rules, a few penalties. It was madness."

The expansion Golden Knights advanced to the Stanley Cup finals Sunday by finishing off the Winnipeg Jets in five games of the best-of-seven Western Conference final. Jefferson's Las Vegas Aces, who are in their first season in Nevada after relocating from San Antonio, can only dream of similar success.

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Ex-UConn center Butler having the time of her life

By Carl Adamec | May 8 | 8:10PM

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(David Butler II)

UNCASVILLE, Conn. - Natalie Butler had not been in Connecticut in a year.

With her receiving her bachelor's degree from the University of Connecticut followed by a record-setting season as a graduate transfer with the George Mason women's basketball team, being drafted by the WNBA's Dallas Wings, and receiving her masters in global affairs, it's been quite a year.

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Nurse, Stevens adjusting to professional life

Connecticut Huskies guard Kia Nurse and forward Azura Stevens dance in confetti following the championship game of the Albany regional of the women's basketball 2018 NCAA tournament against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Times Union Center. (Rich Barnes/USA TODAY Sports)

UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Kia Nurse loved everything about the University of Connecticut. But after four years, she was ready move on.

The basketball part of her college career ended on March 30 when the Huskies lost to Notre Dame in the national semifinals at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The school part concluded Saturday when the two-time academic All-American was awarded her bachelor's degree during graduation ceremonies in Storrs.

"Graduation was amazing and my parents were excited about it as well," Nurse said Monday. "For me, it was a big goal. I'm fortunate that I had the opportunity to come back for graduation and walk, but I'm really excited to get started with this."

UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Rosemary Ragle grew up in Alabama and spent most of her professional life in Storrs, Connecticut.

And while she wouldn't trade her two years in New York City working at the Hospital for Special Surgery and serving as the athletic trainer for the WNBA's New York Liberty, when the opportunity came to return to Connecticut she couldn't pass it up.

Ragle, who was the athletic trainer for 10 national championship women's basketball teams at UConn, is back in a familiar place as the first-year athletic trainer for the Connecticut Sun.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- It was like old times for Morgan Tuck in Seattle last week.

The first time Tuck and Breanna Stewart played a game together was for the United States national team at the 2010 FIBA U-17 world championships. They were together again last Thursday -- along with fellow University of Connecticut alums Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tiffany Hayes, and Stefanie Dolson -- as the USA senior national team faced China in an exhibition game at KeyArena. It was the first time Tuck and Stewart were teammates since the Huskies defeated Syracuse in the 2016 NCAA national championship game in Indianapolis.

Of course, their team won as the Americans topped China 83-46.

Tuck enters Connecticut Sun camp feeling like old self

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Jets select UConn DT Folorunso Fatukasi at No. 180

Apr 28 | 4:00PM

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Foley Fatukasi highlights00:00:33

SNY rolls the highlights of UConn DT Foley Fatukasi, selected by the New York Jets in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft.

Even as her coaching journey took her to Seattle and Chicago, Jasmine Lister never lost appreciation for the time she spent as a graduate assistant in Storrs on Geno Auriemma's staff with the University of Connecticut women's basketball team.

"I see them a lot, but I still want to tell them, 'Thank you,' " Lister said last December. "They've done a lot for me. They taught me a lot about basketball and a lot about myself as a person. They took someone in from another program, someone they didn't know, and treated me like one of their own. And even though I've been gone for a year they are still looking out for me and still make me feel like I'm a part of it."

Soon she just won't feel like a part of it, she will be a part of it. The 25-year-old Lister will be named an assistant at UConn to replace Marisa Moseley, who was introduced as the head coach at Boston University on Wednesday. An official announcement from the school could come as early as Thursday.

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Huskies' assistant Moseley named head coach at alma mater BU

The University of Connecticut women's basketball assistant coach has been named the head coach at her alma mater Boston University, BU athletic director Drew Marrochello announced on Tuesday. Moseley becomes the eighth head coach -- and first alumna -- in program history. She will be formally introduced on Wednesday at 9 a.m. in the Francis D. Burke Club Room at Agganis Arena.

"This is a banner day for Boston University women's basketball," Marrochello said in a statement. "As we embark on a new and promising era, we are incredibly excited to welcome Marisa back to her alma mater to lead the program she played for.

The University of Connecticut women's basketball team is losing Gabby Williams and Kia Nurse to graduation and to the WNBA.

The Huskies appear to be looking at a pair potential graduate transfers from Texas A&M as immediate replacements.

Forward Anriel Howard, the Aggies' leading rebounder this past season, and guard Danni Williams, their second-leading scorer, are planning on visiting the Storrs campus this weekend, according to a pair of sources. The New Haven Register's Jim Fuller confirmed Howard's trip and added she has already visited Florida State and will tentatively travel to Mississippi State, Tennessee and a fifth school to be determined.

WNBA Draft: Williams, Stevens and Nurse selected in top ten

Williams 4th (Sky), Stevens 6th (Wings), Nurse 10th (Liberty)

Apr 12 | 8:10PM

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Connecticut Huskies forward Gabby Williams holds up the regular season championship trophy as she and her teammates pose for a picture after defeating the South Florida Bulls 82-53 at Gampel Pavilion. (David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports)

Gabby Williams, Azura Stevens and Kia Nurse were all selected within the top ten picks of the 2018 WNBA Draft. Williams was picked 4th overall by the Sky, Stevens went 6th to the Wings and Nurse went 10th to the Liberty.

The trio led the Huskies to a 36-1 record and another trip to the Final Four, where they lost to Notre Dame.

This season, Williams averaged 11.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.4 steals in her senior season and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Albany Regional.

Azura Stevens to enter WNBA draft

Azura Stevens' playing career with the University of Connecticut women's basketball team is one and done.

Stevens, a 6-foot-6 forward from Raleigh, North Carolina, will give up her final year of college eligibility and enter the 2018 WNBA Draft, according to a source familiar with the decision and confirmed by UConn Monday afternoon. Stevens has the option to leave as she is 22 years old, and her original college class is graduating in May.

The WNBA Draft will be held April 12 at Nike Headquarters in New York City.

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GEICO SportsNite: UConn loses to Notre Dame

Apr 1 | 12:31AM

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GEICO SportsNite: UConn's loss00:00:45

UConn women's head coach Geno Auriemma discusses the team's response after losing to Notre Dame in the Final Four to end their season.

UConn women's head coach Geno Auriemma discusses the team's response after losing to Notre Dame in the Final Four to end their season.

For second straight season, UConn falls at the buzzer

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- From the moment it clinched its spot in the NCAA Final Four, the University of Connecticut women's basketball team promised it would be different here.

But the heartbreaking end for the Huskies was the same, almost eerily so.

All-American Arike Ogunbowale's jump shot from just inside the 3-point line with one second left in overtime Friday night gave Notre Dame a 91-89 win over UConn in a national semifinal game before a crowd of 19,564 at Nationwide Arena.

"My team trusted me to have the ball at the end," Ogunbowale said. "I mean, it felt good. I didn't know it was going in, but it felt good..."

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UConn falls to Notre Dame, 91-89, on last-second shot in overtime

Mar 31 | 1:07AM

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GEICO SportsNite: UConn loses00:02:47

Hear from UConn women's head coach Geno Auriemma and players after their heartbreaking, 91-89, loss to Notre Dame in the Final Four.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Arike Ogunbowale's jumper from the corner with a second left lifted Notre Dame to a 91-89 overtime victory over UConn on Friday night in the national semifinals.

She finished with 27 points and Jackie Young had a career-high 32 to lead the Irish back to the championship game for the first time since 2015.

UConn, Notre Dame renew Final Four rivalry

UConn head coach Geno Auriemma talks about what went wrong for the Huskies in last year's Final Four, and how they can win it all this year.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- There will be 19,000 fans inside Nationwide Arena and many more at home watching Napheesa Collier as she tries to help the University of Connecticut women's basketball team get past Notre Dame Friday night and earn a spot in the 2018 national championship game.

But after struggling in last year's national semifinal loss to Mississippi State, the junior forward will not be out to prove anything to anyone -- except herself.

"I never want to be timid like I was that night ever again," Collier said. "All I could think of was to not make mistakes, but then by doing that I did make mistakes. It was one of the reasons we lost. I think we were all timid and afraid to make mistakes. When that happens, you get beat..."

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gabby Williams has picked up her share of honors as a member of the University of Connecticut women's basketball team.

But the Senior CLASS Award she got on Thursday figures to find a special place in the trophy case of her Sparks, Nevada, home.

"It means a lot to me because it's something that's beyond basketball, which we don't always get recognized for," Williams said. "It's too bad it gets lost because there are so many athletes doing so many good things. Sometimes athletes struggle with showing that they're more than athletes in a world that perceives them as just athletes. They're capable of more and should be allowed to be capable of so much more. That needs to be recognized more..."

Gabby Williams on boards as milestone approaches

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gabby Williams' answer was short and sweet when asked if she could get the three rebounds she needs for 1,000 in her career with the University of Connecticut women's basketball team's during Friday night's NCAA Final Four semifinal game with Notre Dame at Nationwide Arena.

"I'll try," she said with a smile.

To Williams, rebounding is all about effort and there's little short or sweet about it. The only short part would be her height. If she gets the three rebounds, the 5-foot-11 All-American senior forward would become the seventh UConn player with 1,000 but, the first to be listed at under 6-feet tall.

UConn blows out South Carolina en route to Final Four

UConn head coach Geno Auriemma and guard Crystal Dangerfield discuss their 94-65 win over South Carolina to advance on to the Final Four.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Crystal Dangerfield arrived in Storrs being thought of as the next great point guard for the University of Connecticut's women's basketball team.

She had her moments -- think Baylor in her second career game -- in an up-and-down freshman season that ended with her watching the final shot of the season in Dallas from the bench. She returned with a new confidence as a sophomore and through the first half of the regular season was as good as anyone in the country before shin splints in her left leg began limiting her practice time and in some cases her effectiveness.

But on a magic night Monday at the Times Union Center, the Murfreesboro, Tennessee, native put forth a first half that was as good as any of the Huskies' greats have played. By the time she fed Azura Stevens for a layup to close out the second-quarter scoring, UConn's berth to the NCAA Final Four was all but secured.

Dangerfield scored 19 of her 21 points in a decisive first half as the top-seeded Huskies blasted No. 2 and defending national champion South Carolina 94-65 in the NCAA Albany Regional final before an enthusiastic pro-UConn crowd of 9,522.

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Dangerfield, Williams lead UConn to 11th consecutive Final Four

Mar 26 | 9:12PM

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Connecticut Huskies guard Crystal Dangerfield reacts to a made basket against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the first half in the championship game of the Albany regional of the women's basketball 2018 NCAA tournament at Times Union Center. (Rich Barnes/USA TODAY Sports)

Crystal Dangerfield scored 19 of her 21 points in the first half, and top-seeded UConn routed No. 2 South Carolina 94-65 on Monday night to reach the Final Four for the 11th consecutive year.

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UConn, South Carolina battle for trip to Columbus

Mar 26 | 5:30PM

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Connecticut Huskies forward Napheesa Collier reacts to a play with teammate Crystal Dangerfield against the Duke Blue Devils during the first half in the semifinals of the Albany regional of the women's basketball 2018 NCAA tournament at Times Union Center. (Rich Barnes/USA TODAY Sports)

The road to a 12th national championship has been paved in marshmallows thus far for Geno Auriemma and the Connecticut women's basketball team.

With one pivotal matchup on Monday, however, all that ease disappears.

The Huskies (35-0) will square off with Dawn Staley and defending national champion South Carolina (29-6) in the Albany Region final at the Times Union Center.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Katie Lou Samuelson was coming off one of the best sophomores seasons for any University of Connecticut women's basketball player and set her expectations even higher for her junior year.

But in the second quarter of the second game of the season on Nov. 17, against California at Gampel Pavilion, Samuelson fell awkwardly after collision with the Bears' Mikayla Cowling and eventually limped off the court. She would miss four games with a left foot sprain. In January she would get a black left eye against Texas and injure her left ankle versus Tulsa, which cost her another game, and led her to joke that everything happened on her left side.

As the Huntington Beach, California, native heads into Monday night's NCAA tournament Albany Regional final against South Carolina, she and the top-seeded Huskies are all right.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- History may be made Monday night, but the history between the University of Connecticut and South Carolina women's basketball teams will have nothing to do with whether it happens.

If the top-seeded Huskies can end the No. 2 Gamecocks' one-year reign as national champions in the NCAA tournament Albany Regional final at the Times Union Center, they will advance to their record 19th Final Four overall -- breaking a tie with Tennessee for most appearances -- and record 11th straight.

UConn (35-0) has beaten South Carolina the past four Februarys, including an 83-58 win at sold-out Colonial Life Arena in Columbia on Feb. 1. That was February. This is March, and this will be the first postseason meeting between the schools.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Geno Auriemma doesn't know new University of Connecticut men's basketball coach Dan Hurley all that well, but that, of course, will change when Hurley gets settled in a bit in Storrs and Auriemma and his women's team wrap up their run in the NCAA tournament.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- At the end of the first quarter Saturday, Gabby Williams grabbed a rebound and got out on the break that led to a beat-the-buzzer layup by Kia Nurse. Right before the halftime horn, the University of Connecticut women's basketball team's senior All-America hit an 18-foot jump shot.

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UConn routs Duke 72-59, advances to Albany Region final

Mar 24 | 4:20PM

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Auriemma on Elite Eight matchup00:01:13

UConn women's basketball head coach Geno Auriemma discusses his expectations for their matchup against South Carolina in the Elite Eight.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) Napheesa Collier had 16 points and 11 rebounds to help top-seed UConn beat Duke 72-59 on Saturday and advance to the Elite Eight for the 13th consecutive season.

UConn (35-0) will face defending national champion South Carolina on Monday night in trying to reach an 11th straight Final Four.

The Huskies scored the first seven points of the game beginning with a banked-in 3-pointer from Kia Nurse and they were off and running.

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Today's game: UConn vs. Duke, 1:30 p.m.

Mar 24 | 10:30AM

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(David Butler II )

Back in the Sweet 16 for the 25th consecutive season -- with a scheduled Saturday matchup against No. 5-seeded Duke, the No. 1-seeded Connecticut women's basketball team is nevertheless not looking down the line.

Even if this season they might just have reason to.

The Huskies (34-0) enter regional matchups not as defending champions, like they have in so many recent years past, but hoping to climb the mountaintop once more.

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UConn, Stevens ready for Duke challenge

ALBANY, N.Y. -- About two dozen media members with either cameras, microphones, or tape recorders were waiting for her inside the University of Connecticut women's basketball team's locker room Friday.

Samuelson sees familiar face in Sweet 16

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Katie Lou Samuelson's older sister, Karlie, had moved on to Stanford as she entered her junior year at Mater Dei High in Santa Ana, California. It didn't take long for her to develop a family-like tie with one of the Monarchs' newcomers -- Jayda Adams.

The two will be together again Saturday but on different sidelines. Samuelson and the top-seeded University of Connecticut women's basketball face Adams and No. 5 Duke in a NCAA tournament Albany Regional semifinal at the Times Union Center.

"I love her. In high school I called her my little sister," Samuelson said. "When I was a junior, she was the only freshman on varsity. I saw her develop as a player at Mater Dei and I've watched her since she got to Duke. I'm happy for her and excited to see her."

Huskies' Collier doesn't pass on expanding game

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Napheesa Collier has 23 double-doubles in three seasons with the University of Connecticut women's basketball team, all via points and rebounds.

That number would be 24 to match her uniform if not for a mistake by the stat crew at Gampel Pavilion during last Saturday's NCAA tournament first-round game with Saint Francis of Pennsylvania. In the opening minute of the third quarter, Collier passed the ball out to Katie Lou Samuelson, who connected on a 3-pointer. Gabby Williams, however, was credited with the assist. Collier would finish the game with a career high nine assists, three better than her previous best.

Dan Hurley named UConn men's basketball coach

Mar 22 | 8:43AM

The Daily News Live crew discusses the choice of former URI coach Dan Hurley as UConn's next men's basketball coach.

The Univeristy of Connecticut has found their new men's basketball head coach in Dan Hurley, the team announced Thursday.

Hurley, the son of legendary high school basketball coach Bob Hurley, began his collegiate coaching experience at Wagner College in 2010. He spent two seasons there, turning the program around from a 13-17 team during the 2010-11 season to a 25-6 team the year after.

He would transition to the University of Rhode Island in 2012, where he has spent the last six years. He owns a 113-82 record at URI, while also bringing his team to the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons. The Rams recently lost to Duke University in the second round of this year's tournament.

STORRS, Conn. -- As soon as Azura Stevens saw the final score from Athens, Georgia, the University of Connecticut women's basketball team's redshirt junior forward knew what the first question to her would be when the media made its way inside the Huskies' locker room Monday night.

How about playing Duke next?

"They're a good team and it's going to be a good game," said Stevens, who spent her first two seasons with the Blue Devils before transferring to UConn in 2016. "We're going to be looking forward to it."

STORRS, Conn. -- Katie Lou Samuelson turned toward a television in the University of Connecticut women's basketball team's locker room Monday night to see the final moments of Central Michigan's upset of Ohio State, which followed minutes after Buffalo's upset of Florida State.

"The biggest thing, especially on the women's side, is understanding that you have to be ready to play no matter what," Samuelson said. "When you watch a team like a Buffalo or Central Michigan do what they did, they were probably underestimated by someone and they were good enough to take advantage of that. It's just a warning you have to be ready no matter what because neither Florida State or Ohio State came out and expected them to play the way they did. Anything can happen on any day."

The top-seeded Huskies were a prohibitive favorite heading into their NCAA tournament second-round game with No. 9 Quinnipiac, but knew there were no guarantees. They played like their season was on the line, which, of course, it was.

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UConn reaches 25th straight Sweet 16 with win over 9-seed Quinnipiac

Mar 19 | 8:37PM

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GEICO SportsNite: UConn00:00:56

UConn head coach Geno Auriemma discusses his team's win over Quinnipiac and his expectations for the Sweet 16.

Azura Stevens added 14 points and Kia Nurse chipped in with 13 for the Huskies (34-0), who found themselves in a much slower-paced game than their 140-52 first-round rout of Saint Francis (Pa.).

But Connecticut was not threatened in this one either. They opened with a 9-2 run and never trailed.

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UConn has reached out to Dan Hurley about head coaching job

Mar 19 | 6:07PM

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Rhode Island Rams head coach Dan Hurley reacts in the second half against the Oklahoma Sooners in the first round of the 2018 NCAA tournament at PPG Paints Arena. (Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports)

The University of Connecticut has reached out to Dan Hurley about their vacant men's basketball head coaching job, though no decision is imminent, reports Adam Zagoria.

Pittsburgh has also reached out to Hurley, according to Zagoria.

Hurley, 46, led the University of Rhode Island to the second round of the NCAA tournament the past two seasons. The seventh-seeded Rams lost to Duke on Saturday after beating 10th-seeded Oklahoma on Thursday.

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Tonight's game: UConn vs. Quinnipiac, 6:30 p.m.

Mar 19 | 5:00PM

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Geno on team ball and jazz music00:01:37

UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma talks about how great team basketball is equivalent to a great jazz band.

Twenty years after their only matchup, No. 1 seed Connecticut will play Quinnipiac on Monday in the second round of the NCAA Women's Tournament at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn.

Though the schools are located some 55 miles from each other, they might as well be a million miles apart in expectations.

At least they were in 1998, when the Huskies scored the biggest win in program history over the Bobcats 117-20 >> Read more

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GEICO SportsNite: Dangerfield, UConn prep for Quinnipiac

Mar 18 | 11:31PM

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GEICO SportsNite: UConn hoops00:01:21

UConn Huskies guard Crystal Dangerfield hopes the team doesn't get stagnant after its big win on Saturday as it prepares for Quinnipiac.

Geno Auriemma knows what it's like to build a program from the bottom up. The University of Connecticut women's basketball team had one winning season before his arrival in Storrs in 1985. Today, Auriemma has the highest winning percentage for a coach in NCAA history and the 11-time national champion Huskies are second all-time to Tennessee in wins.

He's also watched Quinnipiac coach Tricia Fabbri build her program from Division II into a nationally-known Division I club, and that included her team hitting rock bottom.

When No. 1 UConn entertains the ninth-seeded Bobcats on Monday in an NCAA tournament Albany (New York) Regional second-round game at Gampel Pavilion, it will be their first postseason meeting and second overall. On Dec. 27, 1998, the Huskies routed Quinnipiac -- which was in its first season in Division I -- 117-20. Auriemma had four players on his roster that would go on to play in the Olympics. Fabbri had players that were originally recruited to play against the likes of LeMoyne, Stonehill, American International and Merrimack.

STORRS, Conn.-- Crystal Dangerfield jogged to the bench at the end of the first quarter of the University of Connecticut women's basketball team's NCAA tournament opener Saturday and glanced at the scoreboard.

"I thought it was halftime already," Dangerfield said.

No, the Huskies' record-setting onslaught would continue for another 30 minutes...

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UConn roll to record-setting 140-52 1st-round win

Mar 17 | 1:40PM

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GEICO SportsNite: UConn00:01:58

Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma discusses UConn's record-setting win against St. Francis in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

STORRS, Conn. (AP) Azura Stevens scored 26 points to lead six UConn players in double figures and the Huskies opened their NCAA Tournament with a record-setting 140-52 rout of Saint Francis (Pa.) on Saturday.

The tournament's top seed set a record for points in a tournament game and all-time NCAA records for points in a period (55 in the first) and a half (94 in the first).

And UConn's 88-point margin of victory was the second-biggest in tournament history. Baylor beat Texas Southern by 89 in the 2017 tournament.